AFC Waverton Wasps 3 v 0 Middlewich Town Youth

Cheshire Junior Cup (27^th November 2011)

Waverton Scorers (season’s total in brackets)

Matt Sheen  -  1 (16)

Robbie Foster  -  1 (4)

Own Goal  -  1 (2)

Report

After a couple of comfortable league victories it was a much harder prospect for Waverton this week, in the last sixteen of the Cheshire Cup against a strong & competitive Middlewich Town team, who currently head their own Mid-Cheshire League. Waverton controlled the first half (with the wind) and then faced up strongly to the expected onslaught in the second period, to make it through 3-0, and progress to the Quarter Finals.

The early exchanges were quite tentative as the two teams sized each other up, but after ten minutes or so Waverton started to use the advantage of the wind to dominate possession, and looked the more dangerous team going forward. They looked to have taken the lead after 20 minutes, with Matt Sheen heading home a Jonny Lee cross, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside. If anything though this setback only seemed to spur on the Wasps further, and they had their best spell of the game up to half time, getting the reward for it with two goals. First Matt Sheen converted an Aaron Hassall corner, and then shortly afterwards a fiercely driven Robbie Foster corner ricocheted off two Middlewich defenders for an own goal. Waverton’s 2-0 lead at the break was well deserved on the overall run of play.

The second half however was a different story. Middlewich came out right from the start of play with a more determined and positive approach to the game, throwing more players forward to try to get back into the match, using the wind and slope advantages which were now in their favour. Suddenly the Wasps were finding it much more difficult to hold onto the ball and instead were facing wave after wave of attacks. If Middlewich had got a first goal you felt they would be right back into the game, but somehow the Waverton defence stood up to the onslaught without conceding. There were strong performances from all the defenders (and the keeper), but in particular the central pairing of Charlie Nicholson and Jordan Coxall saw off everything thrown at them, with a series of last ditch challenges, clearing headers and even a goal line clearance!

With ten minutes to go Waverton started to get a bit more control back, and take advantage of the gaps that Middlewich were now leaving at the back as they threw men forward. It wasn’t wholly surprising therefore when Robbie Foster curled in a third goal to make the result safe.

The second period had provided more than the odd scare, but on the overall play Waverton were definitely the better team and rightly booked their place in the Quarter Finals (to be played in January) .

Coach’s MoM: Charlie Nicholson

Supporters’ MoM: Jordan Coxall

AFC Waverton Wasps 7 v 1 Newton Athletic

Chester & District League (20th November 2011)

Waverton Scorers (season's total in brackets)

Matt Sheen  -  3 (15)

Aaron Hassall  -  1 (11)

Alex Wilkinson  -  1 (6)

Raynor Gray  -  1 (5)

Alex Abraham  -  1 (2)

Report (to follow)

Groves Athletic 2 v 7 AFC Waverton Wasps

Chester & District League (13^th November 2011)

Waverton Scorers (season’s total in brackets)

Aaron Hassall  -  3 (10)

Matt Sheen  -  2 (12)

Sam Jones  -  1 (8)

Charlie Jones  -  1 (8)

Report

Waverton produced a more consistent performance this week, running out comfortable 7-2 winners, maintaining their clear advantage at the top of the league table.

The result was probably never in doubt from the first minute, after Sam Jones' shot (or cross?) from wide on the right went in off the back post to give the Wasps a very early advantage. As always it was a physical game against Groves, and despite them being easily contained going forwards by the Waverton defence, they also made it equally hard for the Waverton forwards, and despite the visitors holding the vast majority of possession they were only able to add one further goal in the first period, from Matt Sheen, after rounding the keeper, to make it 0-2 at the break.

Despite the regular substitutions, Waverton held their shape better than they have for the last couple of weeks, and for the majority of the second half they played some good passing football (despite the bumpy pitch), adding five more goals; a well taken hat-trick from Aaron Hassall (putting him into double figures for the season), a second from Matt Sheen and one from Charlie Jones. Today’s scorers have now got 38 goals between them in 11 games so far this season.

A couple of late lapses in concentration at the back allowed Groves to score two consolation goals (and yet again saved Jack Minshull’s Dad having to pay a “clean sheet” bonus!), and it’s hoped a late injury to Sam Jones won’t prove to be serious. The season to date record is now;

Played 11, Won10, Lost 1, Goals For 63, Goals Against 19

Coach’s MoM:  Charlie Nicholson & Matt Sheen

It’s back to league action again next week (v Newton), before the tougher challenge of the Cheshire Cup the week after, at home to Middlewich Town for a place in the Quarter Finals.

 

AFC Waverton Wasps 6 v 4 Chester Nomads Colts

Chester & District League (6^th November 2011)

Waverton Scorers (season’s total in brackets)

Charlie Jones  -  2 (7)

Robbie Foster  -  2 (3)

Matt Sheen  -  1 (10)

Sam Jones  -  1 (7)

Report

Back to League action after their Cheshire Cup exploits, it was another relatively comfortable victory for Waverton to keep them well clear of the pack. The 6-4 scoreline makes it look closer than it was, and some sloppy play from the Wasps in the last fifteen minutes let slip a much more convincing winning margin.

After a delayed start, due to a switch in pitches (caused by moles!) the game got off to the usual physical combative start you expect against a big strong Colts team, with the sides fairly evenly matched in a first ten minutes which saw half chances created at both ends. Waverton did start to gain the upper hand though and it was no real surprise when Matt Sheen finished off a good move to make it 1-0, once again becoming the first Wasps player to 10 goals for the season. Having missed chances to add to their lead though Waverton were soon pegged back level at 1-1, as the big Colts attackers continued to cause problems.  Colts had their best spell at this point, but Waverton held out well defensively and restored their lead before half time with Robbie Foster powering home a great header from a good Alex Wilkinson cross.

Waverton deserved their lead at the break, but in the first half they had been drawn into too much of a physical battle playing the game on Colt’s terms. For the first half of the second period this changed and the Wasps began playing better passing football, retaining possession and dominating the game far more. During this spell they built up a well deserved 6-2 lead, with further goals from Robbie Foster, Charlie Jones (2) and Sam Jones, and looked like scoring more to complete a very easy victory.

As often seems to happen though when the Wasps get a clear lead, an element of complacency creeps in and they stopped playing as a team and started to try too many individual things. As a result the Colts were let back in to a game that should have been “killed off”, and although the result was never in danger their two late goals made the scoreline closer than it should have been. Another 3 points safely in the bag, but Waverton are still going to need more consistency over a full 80 minutes as the season progresses, particularly in the Cheshire Cup.

Coach’s MoM:   Brandon Garland & Robbie Foster

Supporters’ MoM:   Robbie Foster & Raynor Gray

Broadheath Central 1 v 5 AFC Waverton Wasps

Cheshire Junior Cup – Round 3 (30^th October 2011)

 

Waverton Scorers (season's total in brackets)

 

Matt Sheen  -  2 (9)

Aaron Hassall  -  2 (7)

Charlie Jones  -  1 (5)

 

Report

 

There are two key things to say about this performance; 1) it was better than the match against Upton! and 2) it was good enough to put Waverton through to the last sixteen of the Cheshire Cup. It still wasn't the fluent Wasps team from a few weeks back though, and truth be told they should have despatched Broadheath by a much bigger margin.

 

Broadheath took the field with just ten men, and in a sparkling opening few minutes it looked like Waverton were really going to make this numerical advantage count. Firstly Aaron Hassall latched on to a through ball and cleverly lobbed the keeper to open the scoring, and then shortly afterwards Matt Sheen met a strong low cross from Sam Jones turning it past the keeper to make the score 2-0 with barely 10 minutes gone.

 

Although Waverton continued to dominate possession though, their performance went a bit flat from here on in. Both Matt and Aaron added second goals before the break, to give the Wasps a convincing 4-0 lead, but there were already signs as the half progressed that they were letting a combative Broadheath team back into the game more than they should have done.

 

Despite a request from the coaches for the Wasps to "up their game" in the second period this never really happened. At 4-0 it was as if both teams had accepted the game was over as a contest, and the result was a very flat half of football. Waverton continued to hold the majority of the ball, but they rarely looked like breaking down Broadheath again, with the ten men showing good spirit in defence. Charlie Jones did add a fifth goal just before the end, with the best finish of the day flying into the top corner of the net, but then Waverton sloppily conceded a goal at the other end almost straight after, although Broadheath probably deserved to have something to show for their efforts.

 

The 5-1 score line will probably look good on the Cheshire Cup website, but the players knew at the end that it could (and indeed should) have been more. Job done though, and into the final 16, but if Waverton are to go one step further than two years ago in this competition they will need to put together some stronger performances than this in future rounds as the opposition gets tougher.  

JFC Upton North 5 v 4 AFC Waverton Wasps

Chester & District League (9^th October 2011)

 

Waverton Scorers (season's total in brackets)

 

Brandon Garland  -  2 (3)

Aaron Hassall  -  1 (5)

Charlie Jones  -  1 (4)

 

Report

 

Despite dominating the Chester & District League for the last two seasons Waverton have always managed to throw in the odd under par performance, and this was very definitely one of them! Although they staged a brave attempt at a come back late on, the result was a 5-4 defeat to an Upton team who played well on the day. Other results mean that the Wasps still look comfortable at the top of the table, but they can't afford many more performances/results like this one!

 

Waverton started the game slowly, but still managed to take an early lead as Charlie Jones finished after an earlier shot had struck the bar. The team's normal passing football (and the domination it brings) never really materialised in this match though, and Waverton didn't really look like adding to their advantage. As a result Upton started to come back into the game and it was no surprise when they first equalised, as Ollie Knight converted a loose ball that the Wasps should have cleared, and then took the lead just before the break.

 

Waverton again started the second period sluggishly, and had no more than half chances to equalise, and were frequently (rightly or wrongly) getting caught offside. Meanwhile Upton were gaining confidence, particularly their pacy central striker, and in quick succession around the middle of the half they added three more goals (two from breakaways) to make the score 5-1, a scoreline the Wasps could hardly complain about.

 

This team does though have character and the prospect of a "thrashing" against their old rivals at last galvanised the team into action. In the final 15 minutes Waverton finally came to life and started to push forward strongly, with Brandon Garland, playing in a more advanced role, particularly influential. Having scored a good solo goal he was then fouled in the box, with Aaron Hassall converting the penalty to make the score 5-3. When Brandon then added a fourth with 3 minutes still remaining it looked like a highly unlikely point might get saved, but despite the Wasps doing all the attacking Upton held out for what was probably a deserved victory.

 

No real harm done (given other results) to the campaign for a third successive title, but Waverton need to make sure this "off day" is a "one off" if they want to keep pushing for another "treble", particularly next time out in the Cheshire Cup.